Blood Thinners and Alcohol: A Dangerous Mix?

Ways that your standard hangover cures won’t even begin to touch. The morning after a night of over-imbibing can cause some temporary effects on your brain. Things like trouble concentration, slow reflexes and sensitivity to bright lights and loud sounds are standard signs of a hangover, and evidence of alcohol’s effects on your brain. Cirrhosis, on the other hand, is irreversible and can lead to liver failure and liver cancer, even if you abstain from alcohol.

Side Effects

Heads up that some of these “don’ts” don’t apply if you’re on one of the newer blood thinners, like Rivaroxaban (Xarelto®) or Apixaban (Eliquis®). So, it’s important to check with your healthcare provider to make sure you’re taking the appropriate precautions. Activated platelets attract other platelets, and they stick to each other to plug up the wound and stop the bleeding. Blood clotting is an extremely important function of the body that prevents bleeding. Without blood clotting, a small cut would cause serious, prolonged bleeding. Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are common pain relievers found as over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription products.

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t exercise or live your day-to-day life.
Maintaining adequate hydration levels helps keep blood at an optimum thickness and is essential for overall good health.
You may need a dose adjustment in addition to testing of your prothrombin time (PT) or International Normalized Ratio (INR).
A doctor may prescribe these medications to reduce a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke.

Drugs & Supplements

Other drugs that act as blood thinners include warfarin and aspirin. Mixing alcohol with blood thinners can increase the risk of bleeding and should be avoided in most cases. You may be safe to drink alcohol on occasion while on blood thinners and if your doctor gives you the go-ahead.

What Does Alcohol Do to Your Body? 9 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health

There are a number of factors that determine how dangerous alcohol consumption is while taking blood thinners. Yet there are other, less risky ways to protect your arteries — for example, by eating a plant-based diet and exercising. The American Heart Association doesn’t recommend drinking alcohol solely to protect your blood vessels and improve your circulation. But sometimes, a blood clot can form in — or travel to — an artery that supplies your heart or brain with oxygen-rich blood.

How Can I Reduce Blood Clots?

These medications must be taken exactly as directed to work safely and effectively.
Additionally, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) offers guidance on finding treatment and support for AUD.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the health benefits could be related to genetics and not to alcohol consumption at all.
This physiological response primes a person to be alert and ready to act.
Blood thinners are medications that treat and prevent blood clots.

If alcohol continues to accumulate in your system, it can destroy cells and, eventually, damage your organs. And that’s on top of the toll that alcohol use can take on relationships, not to mention the potential for financial strain and legal troubles. People can speak to their doctor if they think they or someone they know may have AUD.

Because research suggests that alcohol may thin the blood, people need to avoid consuming any before undergoing surgery.
If you consume large amounts of alcohol at one time or drink alcohol on a daily basis, be sure to discuss this with your doctor.
Although alcohol thins the blood, long-term use can have a different effect.
These drugs play a crucial role in managing conditions related to blood clotting and circulation.
People should speak with a healthcare professional about consuming alcohol and taking blood-thinning medications safely.

HDL cholesterol plays a role in removing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, commonly known as “bad” cholesterol, from the bloodstream. The process of blood clotting involves several key components, blood thinners and alcohol including platelets, proteins called clotting factors, and fibrin. When a blood vessel is damaged, platelets rapidly adhere to the site and release chemicals that attract more platelets.